Effect of biocomposted groundnut shell on growth and yield of bhendi (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench.
1V. Karthiya and A. Vijayalakshmi*
Department of Botany, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore-641011 (India) karthiyavelmurugan@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Groundnut shell wastes accumulation may cause a major environmental threat which compose of tremendous lignin and cellulose. Hence, the present study deals with the degradation of groundnut shell waste through vermicomposting technology. The experiment on bhendi [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench] was conducted during the period of June - August with three replications using randomized block design (RBD) method. Bioconversion of groundnut shell was recycled by following treatments such as T1- Groundnut shell + Trichoderma asperelloides + Eisenia fetida (5 t ha-1) T2 - Groundnut shell + Microbial consortium (5 t ha-1) T3 - Groundnut shell + Microbial consortium + Eisenia fetida (5 t ha-1). On 25, 50 and 75 DAS the growth parameters and on 90 DAS yield parameters were observed. An application of biocompost T3 significantly increased the growth parameters like root length (cm), shoot length (cm), no. of leaves, diameter of leaf (cm), fresh weight (g), dry weight (g) and yield attributes like length of fruit (cm), diameter of fruit (cm), no. of seeds/fruit, fruit yield/plant (g), fruit yield/ bed (kg), fruit yield/three beds (kg), fresh weight (g) and dry weight (g) of bhendi followed by T2 when compared to the control. Based on the results T3 (groundnut shell partially biodegraded by microbial consortium and vermicomposted by earthworm) enhanced the fruit yield/plant (298.92g), fruit yield/bed (1.291kg) and fruit yield/three beds (5.423kg). Therefore, the bio-manure prepared from groundnut shell promotes plant growth and yield attributes of bhendi.